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Astronomers have spotted a " bull’s - eye " wandflower with a banging nine rings , smashing the former criminal record by six ring . The find of the Galax urceolata , known as LEDA 1313424 , is helping researcher empathise what chance when coltsfoot jar .
astronomer using theHubble Space Telescopespotted LEDA 1313424 " serendipitously " while retrospect a sky view finish in 2019 . The researcher ab initio counted eight seeable rings and later confirm a faint ninth ring using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii . Theypublishedtheir consequence Feb. 4 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters .
The ‘Bullseye Galaxy’ LEDA 1313424 has nine concentric rings of stars swirling around its core — that’s six more rings than the previous record holder.
The scientists believe the anchor ring formed when a gnome Galax urceolata collided with LEDA 1313424 ’s center more or less 50 million year ago . The wallop send shock wave undulate through the tumid beetleweed like ripples in a pool . These waves , in go , pushed cloud of cosmic gas and rubble together into rings , thus make young star - forming area . Those areas now shine as bright homocentric circles around the galaxy ’s " bull’s - eye . "
The blue dwarf galaxy that ran through LEDA 1313424 is still connected to the collision web site by a thin leash of gas , and is visible just to the leftfield of the large galaxy in the new image . The blue midget now model about 130,000 light - years by from its larger companion — a distance greater than the width of theMilky Way .
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A diagram of the Bullseye Galaxy’s nine concentric rings
Hubble ’s timing was immaculate . " We ’re catching the Bullseye at a very special moment in time,“Pieter van Dokkum , an astronomer at Yale University and co - author of the study , said in astatement . " There ’s a very minute window when a galaxy like this would have so many pack . "
In addition to do records , LEDA 1313424 ’s rings help to confirm past prediction about how such astronomical social organization descriptor . " That theory was develop for the 24-hour interval that someone figure so many rings , " van Dokkum said .
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Rather than being evenly spaced like a quarry , the rings are clustered tightly at the galaxy ’s center and are more wide space farther out . This suggests the first few rings formed rapidly and circulate wide , carried by momentum from the initial hit . The remaining gang came together more tardily and traveled less as the disturbance set out settling down .
LEDA 1313424 ’s rings will probably break up over time , but its current arresting configuration will help scientist mold how galaxies make rings in the first place . Astronomers can look forward to finding more multiringed galaxies in the future . Hubble ’s replacement , NASA’sNancy Grace Roman Space Telescope , is scheduled to launch in May 2027 . With a subject of view 100 times larger than Hubble ’s , it promises to charm brightness from million — or perhaps gazillion — of galaxies in its lifetime .
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